


It's Too Cliche

by kanoitrace



Series: Of Elves and Nobles [3]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Love Confessions, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 04:46:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6038641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanoitrace/pseuds/kanoitrace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alistair may have been rejected by one woman in his life, but there's another ready to accept him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Too Cliche

**Author's Note:**

> More old fic! Takes place after Why Let the Dog Out?

Alistair felt like such a fool. He'd hoped to find a warm, loving sister, willing to accept him with open arms into her family. Instead, he'd found some harpy who was so bitter it had even shocked Morrigan into silence. The insufferable Witch of the Wilds actually seemed to be feeling somewhat remorseful for Alistair, at least as much as a she-demon without a soul can feel remorse. None of that was normal.

Adding to his gloom was the guilt he felt at dragging Kaiah along on such a doomed expedition, not that she would have taken no for an answer.

The elf had quickly gotten the things she needed to do in Denerim done. She dallied nowhere, only making quick stops to merchants (taking so long at Wade's to commission a set of drake scale armor seemed to make her terribly nervous and fidgety), to talk to some key contacts in the shadows, and to see Brother Genetivi (he hadn't even been there! Alistair had felt something was off, but didn't press the matter knowing Kaiah's want to leave Denerim as quickly as possible).

The group had been on their way to the gates when Alistair had just stopped and babbled something about this place being his sister's house. Both of his female Warden companions had promised him they'd help him track down his sister when he'd broached the subject a couple weeks ago, but when Kaniah had been so obviously anxious and Elora was detained at camp with a wounded leg, Alistair hadn't pushed the subject when they came to the city. He wanted to kick himself for stopping at that house, and then, as if to prove he was more of a callous idiot, he'd asked Kaiah to go with him. When she'd hesitated at that, he'd tried to make her forget about the whole idea. She simply sighed and shook her head at his protests, and told him to "come on."

Of course Goldanna had been a complete and utter bitch, perhaps even worse than Morrigan (and by Andraste's holy knickers did it ever pain him to admit anyone could ever be worse than Morrigan, _ever_ ), but still, Kaiah had stood next to him, withstood insult to both herself and Alistair, and when Goldanna didn't let up, she'd led him out of the small house.

And now, here they were, standing in the streets of Denerim.

"I can't believe it… This is the family I've been wondering about all my life?" Alistair lamented, expression so crestfallen and hurt.

Kaiah shot a look over Alistair's shoulder to Morrigan, silently begging to woman to not make the man feel any worse. With an eye roll and a shake of her head, Morrigan turned and walked toward the gates. Teyrn looked between the two women, uncertain of whether he should stay with the Wardens or follow Morrigan. The elven Warden smiled reassuringly at the dog and made a small gesture toward the retreating witch, and the mabari bounded off after the woman.

Alistair, it seemed, was completely unaware of the silent exchanges, so wrapped up in his own thoughts he didn't even notice two of his party members slip away. "I guess I was expecting her to accept me without question. Isn't that what family is supposed to do? I… I feel like a complete idiot."

It pained Kaiah to see the look of self-condemnation cross her friend's face. "You don't need her," the elf insisted softly, "you have others who care about you."

Alistair actually had the nerve to scoff at that. "Such as? The only person who ever cared about me was Duncan, and he's gone."

Kaiah wanted to shake him for being such a fool. Instead, she softly placed her hand on his arm.

Despite the armor between her gloved hand and his arm, the touch still sent a small shock through his system causing him to look into the elf's eyes. Aside from brushing against each other in battle, the two of them had never had any form of physical contact.

She smiled softly, a reassuring, warm look that made Alistair feel like he was the only person in the world as he stared into her eyes.

"I care about you." It was said so quietly, but Alistair could never have missed it, so engrossed as he was in all that was the elf. The comment seemed to break the hypnotic moment, though, as Kaiah's eyes widened and Alistair forgot to take a breath.

Kaiah quickly retracted her hand from the ex Templar's arm and averted her eyes. She chewed on her lip in a distressed manner. Alistair noticed a blush spreading across the woman's cheeks, and the pink clashed so terribly with her bright red hair that Alistair found it impossibly cute. Suddenly, Alistair didn't feel quite as awful about his bitch of a half-sister.

Kaiah was mortified, not even sure where that comment had come from. Of all the things she could have said, she'd had to say that. She hadn't even meant to say it, but seeing him so sad had made a completely unfamiliar feeling rise up in her chest. The words had then just slipped out.

"I care about you too."

Kaiah's head snapped up, eyes wide. However, when she looked, Alistair was turned around and heading toward the gate.

Looking back at her, he smiled tiredly and said, "Why don't we get out of here?"

Kaiah nodded numbly, following him out of the damned city, wondering if he'd actually said what she thought he had or if she'd simply imagined it.


End file.
